Seventeen

A few days later, while Maya, Uncle, and Zuko were eating an appetizer at dinner, the cook came in with the entre, which was a giant steaming fish, head still intact. Maya made a face.

"Prince Zuko," said the cook, "did you hear? The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island!"

Zuko stood up. "What?" He started walking out the door. "Uncle, prepare the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time!"

"Are you going to eat that?" Uncle asked, pointing down at the still-steaming fish.

"I was going to save it for later!" Zuko replied angrily, snatching the plate off the table and stalking away with it.

Uncle looked disappointed, but Maya was completely okay with it. She continued eating her rice.

The next morning, she woke abruptly, to the sound of a door slamming against the wall, and then slamming closed. She knew immediately that it was Zuko. She got out of bed and opened the door to her room, looking down the corridor. He was coming towards her. "Good morning, Maya," he said, smiling. But Maya knew he was faking it. "Hope I didn't wake you." He grinned even wider and began stomping loudly down the hallway and towards the deck.

"Ugh!" Maya exclaimed. He'd been like this ever since she'd told him off the other night. She wished she could sleep as heavily as Uncle. After dressing and getting ready for the day, she went into the kitchen and had a quick breakfast.

Uncle was there. "Having boy trouble?" he asked, grinning at her.

"Specifically Zuko trouble," she muttered.

"You know, he's only acting that way because he considers you a friend."

"What? Uncle, normally I believe everything you say, but this time I think you need your brain checked."

He chuckled. "Believe me. If he really didn't like you, he would not bother with you at all. He only teases you because secretly, he likes you. You are a good friend to him, even if he doesn't know it yet."

"But we barely know each other."

"That, I think, is not as true you might believe. Even though you do not know much of each other's pasts, you have shared a lot these last few weeks. Shared experiences bring people closer together."

"But he's so… impossible!" Maya said, exasperation clear in her voice. "Sometimes he talks to me, and sometimes he ignores everything I say. Sometimes he's kind of nice and sometimes he's a big jerk!"

"Like I have told you before, my nephew has had a hard life. But I think if you keep trying to be his friend, eventually, he will accept you. You have much determination, and I think Zuko secretly admires that about you, even if the only thing you are determined about is getting him to talk to you, which probably annoys him."

"You're saying he likes me for the same reason that he doesn't like me?"

"Exactly."

"I can't believe I'm using a Zuko phrase on you, but, Uncle, you're crazy."

Uncle threw his head back and laughed. "There, you see. My point is made. If you two didn't like each other, you would not have borrowed one of his phrases."

Maya shook her head. After she finished eating, she said, "So, we're headed to Kyoshi Island, right?"

"Yes, and we are almost there."

"And what was that last night about rhinos?"

"Let me show you."

She followed Uncle downstairs, and through a few corridors, to a big room that lead to the part of the ship that lowered into a ramp when docked. Inside this room were three rhinos. Literal rhinos. They each had their own pen, and they snorted and pawed at the ground anxiously. Maya stared.

"What the hell?" she said. "How long have you guys had these? And why haven't I noticed?"

"Well," Uncle began, and then stopped. "Actually, that's a good question. I know we didn't have them when we first started this trip two years ago. I'm not exactly sure when they were brought aboard."

Maya laughed.

Soon, they were docked at Kyoshi Island. Maya had been watching from up on deck. The island didn't look very big. But she hadn't really been focused on the island itself. A few minutes ago, she had seen the most amazing thing. Someone had gone out into the water for a swim, and had started riding a giant koi fish! From where the ship had been when she was watching, she was too far away to tell what the person looked like.

But that wasn't even the craziest part. Soon afterwards, she could make out a fin coming up out of the water. It was a humungous fin, as long as the ship she was on, and three times as tall. She swallowed. It was headed straight towards the koi fish and its rider. She then witnessed something very frightening. The sea monster's head came up out of the water, and grabbed the koi fish. It was all very hard to see. There was a lot going on.

What she knew was this: the rider had fallen back into the water, and somehow been picked up by the sea monster. He or she was holding on tightly to one of its antennae while the monster shook its head back and forth to try and dislodge them. Then the person fell into the water and seemed to have either passed out or died. They lay there in the water face up, unmoving.

Then Maya noticed another person, who was now wading through the water towards the original. The new person picked up their friend and started pulling him or her back to shore. It looked like they would make it, but then the sea monster noticed them and began swimming in their direction. Then the second person did something with their arm, and suddenly they were zooming backwards toward the beach, gliding on top of the water. The second person, Maya realized, was a waterbender. What was a waterbender doing way out here on Kyoshi Island? Of course, Maya was one to talk.

While all of this action had been going on, the ship had drawn ever nearer to the shore, and suddenly, they were there. Maya headed below quickly, to join Zuko in his search for the Avatar. If it came to a fight, which she knew it would, she would not help either side. She would simply stay off to the side and watch. Unless of course, Zuko – or the Avatar – was about to die. Then she'd have to do… something, though what, exactly, she didn't know.